


What You Love

by Chia_P



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 21:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11975691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chia_P/pseuds/Chia_P
Summary: Shu struggles with online drama, and Izumi is there to help.(A reaction piece to issues surrounding the rarepair zine.)





	What You Love

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: No one running the zine knew I was writing this and the feelings portrayed in here are Shu's and not representative of anyone on the team's feelings (or even my own). I just wanted to write a piece about one of the characters dealing with a similar issue while also using a rarepair. 
> 
> It's all about love. I hope you enjoy.

Izumi was strolling through campus after classes one afternoon when a shadow on the ground caught his eye. He looked up and barely managed to duck as a smartphone sailed over his head and smashed on the ground behind him. He went to see if he recognized the unfortunate phone to know who to lecture for nearly injuring him. 

As soon as he reached the demolished device, he recognized the case. He looked from the phone on the ground up to its most likely point of origin. Whelp. This was going to be a pain...possibly multiple pains. 

Izumi made his way quickly to the Handicrafts Club room and pushed open the door. He strolled into the room, looking around for the club's president. He spotted him alone in the corner and spoke, "You know, breaking your phone means I have to go back to texting Naru-kun to text Kagehira to tell you something when it's too late to call your house." He reached Shu, squatted in front of him, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "And I'm not about to tell them how much I care about you."

He only heard a sniffle in reply-not a good sign. Destroyed phone plus crying definitely meant something bad had happened. "H-hey, what's going on?" Izumi didn't receive a reply. He sighed and moved to settle himself on the floor beside his boyfriend. "If you don't tell me who it was, I'll just have to be mean to everyone."

Shu finally let out a wet chuckle at that. "I'm not sure how many people would notice a change."

The silver haired boy smirked. A little sass was a good sign. "I love you too."

Valkyrie's leader made a sputtering noise. He was a sentimental person but was still not accustomed to being outwardly sappy. A light blush began to form on his tear stained cheeks. 

Izumi moved to slightly lean against the pink haired boy and listened to his breathing even out a bit before trying again. "So, what happened?" 

After a few more beats of silence, Shu slowly began to explain. "You...you know that fanbook I was trying to organize with a few acquaintances online?"

"The artist tribute one?"

"Yes. That one." His voice sounded strained. 

Silver hair rustled as he angled his face to look up at his boyfriend. "What about it?"

"We put out a poll to see which artists might be too popular for an under appreciated artists theme, and so many people got mad at us. Of course we didn't have space to list every artist! We listed some big name ones to get an idea of how people would respond. We listed some moderately popular artists too. We didn't mean those were the only ones being considered. We also didn't mean to omit artists from certain countries. It's hard to tell who is popular where."

Shu paused and took a few deep breaths, probably in an attempt to remain calm. "We're doing it in English, and it's not my first language. All of these people are yelling at me online, and none of the other runners are awake because they're in different time zones. People are upset, and I don't know what to do. Some are attacking me. This is why I hate the internet and why I chopped my computer in half! What possessed me to help with this?! I hate group projects and talking to people. I thought the internet might be better but..." His voice began to crack with emotion. "I just want to make art. I can't handle this-I can't." His breathing had become panicked again and fresh tears were welling up in his eyes. 

Izumi shifted to wrap an arm around his boyfriend, rubbing his arm supportively to help calm him. "Shhh. It's going to be okay. The Internet will calm down." He mentally added, "I hope," but didn't voice it. 

"Wh-what if they d-don't?" Shu seemed a bit less panicked but was sniffling again. 

"You still love the idea, right?"

"Y-yes. I want to make art for it. I want people to be inspired and discover new artists they love through seeing people's interpretations." A tiny bit of excitement was beginning to show in his tone. He really did love this project. 

"Then, do what you love." Izumi smiled warmly at his boyfriend. "There will always be a part of the 'vulgar masses' who don't see your vision. You've dealt with that before, and I know you can deal with it again." Over the years, he had grown to fear the people he loved breaking, but Shu had already been at an extremely low point and dragged himself back up. The silver haired boy knew this couldn't break him. He had come back much stronger than before. 

Shu hummed. "I...suppose that's true."

"I know it is." He moved his hand from the other boy's shoulder to twirl his fingers in the soft, short hair just behind Shu's ear. "And I would still be happy to model whatever you sew for your piece."

He tilted his head into the touch. "I'm glad. I'll make it accentuate your natural beauty." He gave Izumi a small smile. "You wearing my creation will make it even more beautiful as well."

It didn't mean much to him when most people called him beautiful or good looking. He'd heard it for years. There were people who wanted to utilize it or saw it as his only redeeming quality. It made him feel a bit hollow. The way Shu said it, though, was completely different. He either just treated it as a fact-Izumi was beautiful, and that was that-or as a quality to be treasured but not to be viewed as all he was. 

Valkyrie's leader probably felt like he'd made that mistake in the past. Izumi himself had been the one to point it out. He'd come right out and said it. Nazuna was his friend, and he knew the small boy wasn't capable of hating anyone. His boyfriend was just quick to feel as though people hated him. That fact had probably made the negative online reaction much worse for him too. 

"You know," Izumi began slowly, "we should probably head out and get you a replacement phone..." He was very glad he had bought insurance for Shu's...previous phone. He'd still have one free replacement left after this one. 

The pink haired boy sighed in defeat. He couldn't ignore the online uproar forever. He'd rather snuggle under a blanket and forget the whole thing, but the fanbook wasn't going to organize itself. "I suppose you're right..."

Izumi removed his arm from around Shu-both of them immediately missing the contact, rose to his feet, and offered him a hand to help him stand. Shu took it and only let go to gather his things before grasping is again and letting Izumi lead him to the store where he'd bought his artsy boyfriend a phone only a month before. 

The employee who helped them did her best to not be surprised at the state of the phone or skeptical of their story when all Izumi offered as an explanation was "it fell". Luckily, the SIM card wasn't damaged, so swapping it out was easy. There also wasn't much data to transfer, since he barely used it. They were on their way very quickly, much to Shu's relief. Izumi insisted on walking him home and kissed him goodbye on the cheek before parting at the front gate. 

The pink haired boy did his best to school his features and make sure the blush was gone from his cheeks before going inside, lest his mother interrogate him. He was pretty sure she still thought Izumi was just a friend from school, and he'd prefer that she kept that impression for at least a little while longer.

After he was safely in his room, the buzzing of his phone almost made him jump. He was nervous to see what kind of message he had received this time. He took a calming breath and looked down at the screen. 

Much to his relief, the message was from Izumi. It read:  
I love you. It'll be alright. 

He gave his phone a small smile. Izumi didn't seem to be this straightforward with his feelings or encouragement toward anyone else. He knew these things weren't easy to say-he was even worse at saying them. It involved a level of vulnerability he hadn't recovered just yet. But he knew his boyfriend was being completely sincere, and it meant the world to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer Part II: I'm not involved with the running of the rarepair zine and don't think anyone involved in what happened is vulgar. I just think that it's important to remember that everyone involved is human and can be hurt by online drama. 
> 
>  
> 
> "Just remember, there is a human on the other side of the screen."  
> -Dylan Marron  
> Conversations with People Who Hate Me  
> (I love podcasts and would highly recommend this one where the host has great conversations with people who have previously sent him hateful messages online.)
> 
> As always, I would love to hear from you! I tweet @usanazunii and am so weak to rarepairs. I recently started a Curiouscat where you can ask me things, prompt me for rarepair drabbles/opinions, or leave whatever comments you'd like. The link is: https://curiouscat.me/Usanazunii


End file.
